1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a television receiver, and a method for counting the number of accesses therefrom. Examples of apparatuses for which the present invention is intended include various types of equipment having a television receiving function, such as general types of television receivers, personal computers, mobile phones, personal digital assistants, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
In digital television broadcasting, various types of data are contained in a television signal together with video and audio information when transmitted. FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a conventional television receiver. A conventional television receiver 110 receives a television signal from a television broadcasting system 141 using an antenna 11 and obtains video and audio from the received television signal using a tuner 12, a transport stream decoder 13 (hereinafter, referred to as the “TS decoder”), a buffer memory 14, and an audio/video decoder 15 (hereinafter, referred to as the “AV decoder”). An OSD (On Screen Display) controller 16 creates bitmap data containing characters, graphics, etc. Video output by the AV decoder 15 and characters, graphics, and the like output by the OSD controller 16 are displayed on a monitor 17. A remote control 21 and a light receiving section 22 function together as input means for inputting an instruction from the user, and a modem functions as communication means for connections to a communication line 1. The television receiver 110 is connected to an information server 142 via the communication line 1 and the internet 2.
A microcomputer 120 (hereinafter, referred to as the “micom”) controls each component of the television receiver 110 and performs a process for receiving bookmark data and accessing a link destination, as described below. The television receiver 110 receives a television signal containing the bookmark data from the television broadcasting system 141. The bookmark data contains attribute information for accessing information associated with a program, an advertisement, or the like, which is being broadcast (e.g., link destination names and link destination URLs (Uniform Resource Locators); hereinafter, referred to as the “link destination information”). When the television receiver 110 receives the bookmark data, the micom 120 causes an icon indicating the reception of the bookmark data to be displayed on the monitor 17. The user recognizes the displayed icon and instructs the television receiver 110 to store the received bookmark data as necessary. After having viewed the program, the advertisement, or the like, the user further instructs the television receiver 110 to access the link destination using the link destination information contained in the stored bookmark data. The micom 120 performs processing in accordance with these instructions from the user, so that, after having viewed the program, the advertisement, or the like, the user can acquire various types of information from a desired link destination based on the bookmark data transmitted during the broadcast of the program, advertisement, or the like.
Operations of the television receiver 110 are described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. The television receiver 110 performs a process illustrated in FIG. 13 for receiving the bookmark data and a process illustrated in FIG. 14 for accessing the link destination. When the television receiver 110 receives bookmark data (step S111 of FIG. 13), the micom 120 analyzes the received bookmark data and extracts link destination names and link destination URLs (step S112). Next, the micom 120 controls the OSD controller 16 so as to cause an icon indicating the reception of the bookmark data to be displayed on the monitor 17 (step S113). The user recognizes the displayed icon and, for example, presses a button on the remote control 21 to instruct the television receiver 110 to store the bookmark data. The micom 120 determines whether or not storing of the bookmark data has been instructed (step S114). When instructed, the bookmark data received at step S111 is written in a bookmark data storing section 24 (step S115). In this manner, the television receiver 110 stores the received bookmark data.
After having viewed a program, an advertisement, or the like, the user uses the remote control 21 or the like to instruct the television receiver 110 to display the bookmark data in the form of a list. When the instruction to display the list is received (step S121 of FIG. 14), the micom 120 extracts names of link destinations and link destination URLs from the bookmark data stored in the bookmark data storing section 24 (step S122) and controls the OSD controller 16 so as to cause a list of link destinations to be displayed on the monitor 17 in the order the link destinations are read from the bookmark data storing section 24 (step S123). The user recognizes the displayed list and uses the remote control 21 or the like to designate a link destination to be accessed. When the micom 120 receives the link destination designation (step S124), the micom 120 controls the modem 23 so as to access the designated link destination and acquires information from the information server 142. The acquired information is displayed on the monitor 17 in accordance with control of the micom 120 (step S125).
In addition to the above-described technology related to the television receiver, as a method for counting the number of accesses in the case where terminal apparatuses connected to the internet access a link destination, the following method is known. FIG. 15 illustrates a conventional method for counting the number of accesses. In this method, the information server 142 provides a portal site 153 and obtains the number of accesses in the case where the link destination is accessed via the portal site 153. The information server 142 includes a site database 151 having site management information stored therein and an access history database 152 having an access history about the link destination stored therein. Advertisement sites 143a and 143b provide advertisement information. The advertisement sites 143a and 143b are linked to the portal site 153. A terminal apparatus 100 temporarily accesses the portal site 153 and follows the link to access the advertisement sites 143a and 143b. In FIG. 15, two arrows denoted by reference numeral P112 respectively represent accesses to the portal site 153 and the advertisement site 143b. 
For example, in the case of counting the number of accesses to the advertisement site 143b, a sponsor system 144 instructs the information server 142 to do the counting (P111 of FIG. 15). The information server 142 writes to the site database 151 information that the advertisement site 143b is the link destination an access history of which should be obtained. When the terminal apparatus 100 accesses the advertisement site 143b via the portal site 153, the information server 142 updates the access history database 152 (P112). After a lapse of a prescribed time period, the information server 142 counts the number of accesses to the advertisement site 143b based on the access history stored in the access history database 152 and transmits the counted number to the sponsor system 144 (P113). In this manner, the sponsor system 144 is provided with the number of accesses in the case where the advertisement site 143 is accessed via the portal site.
However, the above-described conventional television receiver does not have a function of distinguishing link destinations. Accordingly, the conventional television receiver cannot present a specific link destination (for example, an advertisement site of a specific sponsor) to a user in a highlighted manner nor distinguish the specific link destination to obtain an access history thereof.
When requested by a sponsor, a portal site operator company or an advertisement agent company publishes advertisement information in a portal site or transmits bookmark data which contains link destination information of an advertisement site and is contained in a television signal. For the purpose of showing the sponsor that its own activities have contributed to an increase in effect of the advertisement, such a company wants to count the number of accesses to the advertisement site using the link destination information contained in the bookmark data. In the conventional method for counting the number of accesses, however, whether or not the accesses to the link destination are provided based on the bookmark data is not determined. Therefore, the portal site operator company or advertisement agent company cannot count the number of accesses in the case where the link destination is accessed based on the bookmark data, failing to effectively show the effectiveness of its own activities to the sponsor.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a television receiver and a method for counting the number of accesses therefrom which solve the above-described problems.